Exploiting dynamic resources for optimal movement in soaring flight

In my masters project I wanted to investigate how soaring birds may exploit social information to be competitive for resources, specifically thermal updrafts, a resource for efficient soaring flight. However, recording what a soaring bird pays attention to in flight, and not knowing when competition for resources is most influential, it is difficult to capture the use of social information for movement performance in this natural scenario. To explore these relationships, I instead used a paraglider pilot system. Using positional data of all 150 individuals competing in championship race, I recorded the cohesion between individuals and their flight performance, measured as cross-country speed (CCS), through a number of races and found that the value of social information seems to decreases as the competition level increases. Suggesting individuals change their strategy in terms of use of social information, in relation to the conditions of competition. These results shed light on the movement dynamics of groups of conspecifics, where movement performance is dependent on an ephemeral resource.